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The
World Summit on Sustainable Development
Second Preparatory Committee (PrepCom-II) New York, 28 Jan - 8 Feb 2002 |
Thursday,
31 January
The Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue segment concluded in a Final Plenary session with a general discussion on opportunities for new implementation initiatives that responded to the identified hotspots, constraints and participatory needs. In the afternoon, delegates heard general statements by governments. Photo: Major groups during the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue
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Side
event: Linking Poverty Reduction and Environmental Management
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This side event discussed linking poverty reduction and environmental management, and a consultation draft prepared by DFID-UK (www.dfid.gov.uk; enquiry@dfid.gov.uk) , the World Bank (www.worldbank.org/environment; eadvisor@worldbank.org), UNDP (www.undp.org; surf-env@groups.undp.org) and the Directorate General for Development, EC (http://europe.eu.int/comm/dgs/development/index_en.htm; development@cec.eu.int) . The paper focuses on ways to reduce poverty and sustain growth through sound and equitable environmental management. It seeks to draw out links between poverty and environment, and to demonstrate that sound and equitable environmental management is a prerequisite for effective and sustained poverty reduction. Photo: Adrian Davis, DFID, Head, Environmental Policy Department, Department for International Development, UK, Ian Johnson, World Bank, Vice-President, Head, Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (ESSD) Network, Alvaro Umana (UNDP) Leader, Environmentally Sustainable Development Group, ESDG, and Simon Le Grand, EC, Directorate General for Development. |
Outlining
the main themes of the report, Ian Johnson, World Bank
(center), defended the view that environment does matter
and is central to the issue of poverty reduction. He identified
three broad environment-poverty linkages related to health,
income and livelihoods and vulnerability. Regarding health,
he underscored air and water pollution as major causes of
disease. Regarding livelihood, he noted natural resource degradation,
particularly land degradation and depletion of soil, and deforestation,
and emphasized the importance of efficient water resource
management. Regarding natural disasters, he noted their negative
impact on developing countries. Noting that the poor lack
good coping mechanisms, he suggested a strategy for poor people
to take out insurance against the volatility of climate change
and weather. Addressing main policy messages, he said environmental
management should be understood as a positive reinforcing
factor that can enhance growth, welfare and poverty reduction.
He said progress must be made in, inter alia, ensuring
environmental factors are integrated in the development agenda,
and including stakeholders in the public policy debate. He
noted the GEF has played a central role in financing community-based
resource management. He said we need to think about how to
embed the environment into the mainstream of economic logic
and thought, and that natural resource depletion must find
its way into national accounting. He also highlighted the
role of the private sector and stressed corporate, social
and environmental responsibility. He said the issue of subsidies
must be addressed, and noted the GEF's success as a real partnership
between the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions. He said
the GEF represented the only success from Rio in mobilizing
additional funds, and said GEF replenishment is essential,
in order for developing countries to play a role. In conclusion,
he said environmental issues must be mainstreamed into the
development agenda, and that environment matters for economic
growth, poverty reduction and the future of planet.
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For
the full text of the document, please contact one of the four
contributing organizations. To participate in the e-Dialogue
around this paper, starting February 1, 2002, send a blank
e-mail to: join-env-rio10@lists.worldbank.org.
You will receive a confirmation and further information about
how to participate. Your contributions may influence the final
version of the paper, which will be available at the WSSD.
Selected contributions and periodic summaries will be posted
on: http://vx.worldbank.org/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=env-rio-10
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